Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of planning a military coup in September and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under home detention pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the chance of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, many his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.
